SA's first reefer test chamber launched

South Africa’s first thermal test
chamber for refrigerated vehicles is
expected to be operational by early next
year, with the South African Bureau of
Standards (SABS) commercial division
having been appointed as the operator.
This is according to Michael Schuster
from the Deutsche
Gesellschaft fuer
Internationale
Zusammenarbeit
(GIZ), a company
that specialises
in international
development.
Following an investment by the
German Ministry for the Environment,
Nature Conservation, Building and
Nuclear Safety, GIZ has been working
with the department
of trade and industry (dti) to
find solutions to improved
energy efficiency and reduced
greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) for
the refrigerated transport sector.
“The insulation of reefers influences
the amount of energy consumed
by refrigerated units – the better
the insulation, the less energy is
consumed. Furthermore, better
insulation also increases food safety,”
said Schuster.
He explained that test chambers
were basically insulated halls that
were designed to
maintain standard
temperature
conditions and
could determine
the effectiveness of
insulation.
He told FTW
that there had already been industry
buy-in for the test chamber project,
with
GIZ working closely with
various logistics and transport sector
associations and companies. “Several
companies, including some of the
major food retailers, have already
signed a voluntary agreement on
the future use of the test chamber,”
commented Schuster.